Reversible cabinet-latch.



F. E. ucHANAN. HEVERSlBLE CABINET LATCH.

APPLICATION FILE! OCT. 22| 1915 Patented Jan. 29, 1918.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK E. BUCHANAN, 0F ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO NATIONAL LOCK COM- PANY, ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

REVERSIBLE `CABINET-LAATCH.

Lacasse.`

Specication of Letters Patent. Patented Jan. 29, 1918.

Application ined october 22, 1915. seria-1N@ 57,232.

To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, F RANK E. BUCHANAN, citizen of the United States, residing at Rockford, in the county of I'Vinnebago and State of. Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Reversible CabinvetTLatches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to latches of the character used on kitchen cabinets and like articles of furniture.

The object of the invention is to produce an improved construction whichis readily reversible so that it is equally well adapted for use with either right-hand or left-hand A opening doors, and a special airn of the in vention is to produce a latch of this character which comprises a minimum number of parts and is extremely' simple and cheap to manufacture, which is pleasing in appearance and which may be quickly and easily mounted in either one of two reversed positions.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures l and 2 are perspective views illustrating two forms of latches embodying the features of my invention.. Figs. 3 and are plan views of these two forms respectively, parts being shown in section. Fig. 5 15 a front elevation of the form shown in Figs. 1 and 3, parts being sectioned on the plane of line 5 of Fig. 3. Fig. G is a front elevation of the form of latch shown in Figs. 2 and 4. Figs. 7 and 8 are front elevations of the two forms, respectively, illustrating the latches in a reversed position.

In the drawings, fragments of the door and its casing are indicated respectively by the letters A and B.

Referring first to the form shown in Figs. l, 3, 5 and 7, the latch comprises a bolt 10 having its free end bent to provide a finger piece 11, the opposite end of said bolt being 4pivotally supported upon a screw 12 passing therethrough. This screw also passes centrally through a shell 13 which comprises a circular plate having an angular peripheral ange abutting against the face of the door A, said flange having a notch or slot 14 therein through which the bolt 10 passes, said notch being of greater length than the width of the bolt to permit the necessary play of the bolt. The shell is rotatably positioned with the lower wall of the notch 14 in place to support the latch 10 in a substantiall f horizontal position, the shell being fixed) in such position by suitable means, such as a brad 15.

In order to prevent binding of the bolt 10 by turning the screw 12 down too tightly thereon a thrust bushing 16 of greater length than the thickness of the bolt is mounted in the hole of the bolt and is adapted to abut at opposite ends against the face of the door A and the inner side of the shell 13.

The bolt 10 is arranged to coperate with a suitable catch 17 which may comprise a conical head having a reduced shank adapted to be driven into the casing B. When the door`A is open, the lower end of the slot 14 of the shell 13 supports the bolt 10 in po sition so that the inclined head of the catch 17 and dro behind said head when the doo-r is close From a comparison of Figs. 5 and 7, it will beseen that when the latch is to be mounted ina reversed position, vas in Fig'. T, it is only necessary to rotatably adjust the shell 13 so as to bring the opposite end ot' the slot 14 into supporting position beneath the bolt 10, the shell being then xed in such position by the brad 15.

The bolt may be offset, or bent, as at 18, to prevent it from binding against the casing B.

In the construction shown in Figs. 2, 4, 6 and 8, the screw 12a does not pass through the shell 13a, but the bolt 10a is first attached to the door A and the shell is afterward attached by suitable means such as brads 19. The bushing 16L acts, in a man ner already described, to prevent the screw from binding the bolt. A cup or boss 20 -is formed in the shell to accommodate the head of the screw. The shell 138L and the boss 20 are elongated or elliptical in shape and the notch 14a through which the bolt extends is located approximately midway of one of the longer sides of the shell flange. The shell is attached to the door A in such. position with respect to the bolt and screw 123L that the lower end of the notch 14EL will be in supporting position with respect to the bolt when the door is open. As will be understood by a comparison of Figs. 6 and 8, this cooperative relation of the notch and bolt may be readily established in either of the two reversed positions of the latch by vertically adjusting the position of the Shell with respect to the location of the bolt and the screw 12, the elongated shape of the boss accommodating the head of the screw in either of such positions.

The form of catch. 2l shown by wayof example comprises a base plate and an an gular projection S21a havingl an inclined front edge and a notch or shoulder to receive the bolt. The olfset 1Sn of the bolt iS suiicient to accommodate the base portion of the catch. 11n indicates the fingenpiece on the bolt 10a.

As Will. be seen, the latches herein disclosed are equally well adapted for use in either of two reversed positions, as for right or left-lnind doors, it beinp,r only necessary to adjust the position of the shell With respect to the bolt or its supporting screw, so as to bringJ one or the other of the opposite ends of the notch in the shell into proper position.

The foregoing" minute description of the preferred embodiments of my invention is not to be understood as a limitation of the invention to the details disclosed. except as recited in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A reversible cabinet latch comprising a bolt, a fastening' device on Which one end f `of the bolt is pivotally supported, a shell inclosingz; said end oi the bolt and the fasten ing device and comprising a plate having an angularperipheral flange, said flange having an elongated slot through Which the bolt projects, and a catch to coperate with said bolt, the parts being arranged to be mounted in either of two reversed positions, in which the shell is in dilferent relative positions with respect to the pivot of' the bolt and the catch to bring` one or the other of the opposite ends of said slot into supporting relation to the bolt.

2. A reversible latch comprising a bolt, a pivot `for same, a catch to cooperate with the bolt, and a shell inclosing the pivot end of the bolt and provided With a slot through which the bolt projects, the latch being reversible andv the shell being shiftable with respect. to the pivot to bring either end of saild slot into supporting relation to the bo t.

3. A reversible latch comprising a bolt and its pivot, a catch for the bolt, and a shell inclosingl the pivoted end of the bolt and having` a slot through which the bolt extends, said shell being partially rotatable with respect lo said pivot, to bring either end of the slot into supporting relation to the bolt.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

A. P. HARD, E; LUTzHoFF.

Copies of this patent may he obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Wasningtbn, D. C, 

